Deaf in America: Voices from Culture
Amazingly, almost all books devoted to description of deaf people’s world were written by hearing people. Deaf in America represents an alternative view of deaf people which significantly differs from books written by hearing people. The book reflects deaf people point of view since the authors of the book, Carol A. Padden and Tom L. Humphries, are deaf. The goal of the book was to write about deaf people in a new way, introduce their culture, and draw attention to their life.
Carol A. Padden is a professor of Department of Communication teaching in the University of California. She is married to Tom L. Humphries and has hearing daughter. Tom L. Humphries is an American academic, professor tutoring at the same University. They devoted themselves to teaching using American Sign Language (ASL) and struggling for Deaf people’s rights. They travel much meeting other deaf people and signers all over the world.
The authors use the term “deaf” when referring to physical condition of deaf people and use “Deaf” when they refer to deaf people as a separated social group sharing ASL. Deaf people are often seen as “people with disabilities” because ablebodied people consider them as “others”. In Deaf in America Padden and Humphries showed deaf people as personalities who have own culture, rich language and traditions. The authors emphasize on the tension between Deaf people’s perception of themselves and the way how other people see them. It is reflected in the stories placed in the book. The authors use informal style to deliver their perception to readers in a slight, easily understandable manner. The stories were further discussed giving clear understanding of Deaf people perception of the world. The genre of the book is narrative with autobiographical excursus.
Particular attention was paid to ASL as a part of deaf people culture. Unfortunately, deaf people were often forbidden to use signed language when attending school. The mistake had tragic consequences for deaf children education. Thus, ASL is perceived by deaf people as life-giving language. Now ASL is a part of a rich deaf people culture. Interestingly, ASL is similar to the language used by Canadian Deaf people community while it differs from the language Deaf people in other countries use. Padden and Humphries disclosed the meaning of Deaf people’s language representing it as a significant part of their culture.
Padden and Humphries were the pioneers in deaf culture studies but they were not the first to write about Deaf people’s world. A different view of Deaf community was perceived as a new concept in 1988. Earlier, William Stokoe made an attempt to struggle for ASL in 1965. His efforts were rewarded by elevation of the status of Deaf people community mode of communication. Further Wilbur (1987), Valli and Lucas (1992), Siedlecki and Bonvillian (1997) had made a valuable contribution into the development of ASL.
The authors of Deaf in America have greatly contributed in the struggle for their language introducing poetry, jokes, folklore and stories of Deaf community to explain the richness and uniqueness of ASL to the rest of the world. The book addresses ablebodied people calling them not to be deaf to the problems of deaf people and consider them as equal compatriots.
The narration was organized in a coherent manner. The material proposed for consideration was clearly articulated. The statements were well-thought and relevant. The arguments were supported by strong evidences. The exposition is fluid, the book is well-structured. The fact that Deaf in America was written by deaf authors makes the book original. The theme of the book is well-disclosed representing the voice from a subculture. Padden and Humphries’s goal was to write about deaf people in a different way and transfer their perception of the world to ablebodied people. To my mind, they succeeded in it.
One of the brilliant ideas of the book is to teach ablebodied people the language of signs, developing bilingual-bicultural approach. The idea of writing a book of signs only (not bilingual) is also very good because the language of signs should be developed and incorporated. The development of sign language would give deaf people an opportunity to feel themselves as equal citizens of American society.
In their book Padden and Humphries emphasized Deaf people issues connected with ablebodied people interaction. The problem was muted before as Deaf people were considered a minority. The issue appeared to be topical for American society because Deaf people made a wide stratum in the society, hence their problems cannot be muted anymore. National Association of the Deaf reported that twenty-eight million of Americans have some problems with hearing. Only 300,000 of them use ASL and associate them with a certain cultural group. ASL is valued and honored among Deaf American Community because it gives them the opportunity to create art, history, remember origins and compose their culture. It is obvious that there is a need to designate Deaf community as a separate cultural group in order to develop their social identity.
The book made an unforgettable impression on me because it forced me to think about issues I have never pondered before. I was upset when I read about isolation experienced by deaf people and additional difficulties they had to overcome in their lives because of being alienated in the ablebodied people’s society. The story how deaf people realized that they differ from other people impressed me very much. I realized that nobody in the world is ensured from becoming deaf some day. I perceived ASL as a set of gestures rather than a language before. I have changed my attitude after reading Deaf in America. Also, I did not realize that there are so many deaf people in America. After being introduced to this book I got to know that Deaf people is a large community having its own culture, history, and style of life adapted to the world which is alien to them. I discovered a lot of new things about life of people having disabilities. I was wondering about their life and perception of the world before but there was no occasion to get deep into the subject. I would strongly recommend this book to other people, especially to those who feel themselves deprived of something, because sometimes we feel upset for small reasons while other people struggle for their rights every day and do not pay much attention to small troubles.
Ablebodied people must not forget how blessed they are because they are healthy. We have to take into account the opinions and interests of people who were somehow deprived of the possibility to enjoy their life at fullest. We need to learn how to accept and respect personalities of people having disabilities disregard of their physical condition.
References
Padden, C. and Humphries, T. (1999). Deaf in America: Voices from a Culture. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
